The German View

Abstract

Questions which German historians ask about the origins of the Second World War differ to some extent from those which most historians ask in other countries. They differ even more sharply from the questions which Germans themselves used to ask during the interwar period about the origins of the First World War. This second contrast brings out very sharply the change in outlook brought about by unconditional surrender in May 1945. The total collapse of Germany on that occasion exerted a much sharper effect upon subsequent German views and attitudes than did the decision of the German High Command in 1918 to seek an armistice: a decision taken while the army was still entrenched on enemy soil, and the German population was totally unprepared for the sudden turn of events. After the Second World War the Allies learnt their lesson: they abolished the central government and rebuilt Germany from bottom to top. All this they did, however — and this is a crucial point — without concluding a humiliating peace treaty which stipulated categorically Germany’s collective guilt for what had happened.1 Consequently, there was no ‘werewolf’ organisation2 defying the occupying powers and assembling ‘Hitler cocktails’ for World War III, as many people had feared.